(9472) Bruges Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 26 July 1998 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.

Named for Bruges (or Brugge), a beautiful small town in West Flanders that was already mentioned in the seventh century as “Municipium Brugense”, the name being derived from a Roman bridge over the Reie river. In the thirteenth century, together with Ghent and Ypres, the town held a monopoly on English wool. During the fifteenth century the city began to decline when silt clogged the way to the port of Zeebrugge. However, the city remained a strong center for the Flemish school of painting, until the religious struggles of the sixteenth century completed its ruin.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #21, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Bruges is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Bruges is 3.32 au from the Sun and 2.88 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	9472
Provisional designation	1998 OD14
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	8.13 km (#6,444 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0970
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.8
Orbital period	5.35 years
Semi-major axis	3.06 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.57 – 3.55 au
Eccentricity	0.160
Inclination	1.05°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.55 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 26 July 1998

More named asteroids discovered by E. W. Elst

All 1035

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